Scottish Executive

Anti-social Neighbours

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authority environmental services departments have sufficient powers to address any nuisance caused to residents by neighbours running a business from home.

Allan Wilson: Generally, local authorities have a wide range of powers to deal with nuisance. Individuals and businesses are required to comply with the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which prohibits statutory nuisances that are prejudicial to health or a nuisance. Where a local authority becomes aware of a statutory nuisance, it can serve a notice on the relevant individual or business, requiring them to abate or cease the nuisance. The powers contained within the act apply to statutory nuisances from fixed premises, including land; the powers apply equally to dwellings used as homes, and dwellings used for both home and business purposes.

  Also, under section 19 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, local authorities, in consultation with the police, can apply to a sheriff for an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) to prohibit an individual over 16 from further anti-social behaviour that causes or is likely to cause alarm or distress. There may be circumstances where nuisance caused to residents by neighbours running a business from home would justify applying for an ASBO. In most cases, ASBOs should only be considered when all other preventative measures such as warnings and mediation have been tried.

  Further, the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill makes provision for an interim ASBO to take effect pending the outcome of the substantive application for an order. It is intended that the interim order will provide more immediate protection from anti-social behaviour.

Anti-social Neighbours

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to increase the powers available to local authority environmental services departments to address any nuisance caused to residents by neighbours running a business from home.

Allan Wilson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-27551 today. The Executive currently has no such plans and believes that existing powers, combined with the proposals included in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, described in my previous answer, are sufficient to address the issue to which he refers and will monitor the effectiveness of these powers.

Biodiversity

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce legislation to protect biodiversity.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive plans to publish a draft Nature Conservation Bill by Easter 2003. The Executive is currently considering the detailed aspects of the bill in line with the proposals set out in the Nature of Scotland.

Birds

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether parent seagulls that make swooping attacks on people in order to protect their young constitute a danger to human safety; whether it will give advice to local authorities that action should be taken under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in order to reduce and seek to eliminate any such danger, and, in the light of the death of Mr Wilfred Roby reported in The Times on 6 July 2002, whether it will now take action in relation to any potential risk to human life.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive, Scottish Natural Heritage and other agencies already offer advice to local authorities on a variety of control measures which can be taken against seagulls, including measures under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

  In a situation where it is considered that attacks from seagulls pose a threat to human life, it is the responsibility of individual local authorities to decide upon the most appropriate course of action. Adequate powers to take the necessary steps are already available to local authorities as part of their environmental health responsibilities and this may include lethal control of seagulls.

Concessionary Travel

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost has been of its support for the national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people in each year for which figures are available.

Lewis Macdonald: The cost of the national free concessionary travel scheme for blind people is met from the Grant Aided Expenditure block allocation to local authorities. Local authority data returns on concessionary travel schemes do not separately identify these costs.

Construction Industry

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to help the construction industry improve its productivity, competitiveness and value for clients.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive supports the principles of Rethinking Construction  as a means of delivering best practice and improvements in the construction industry. Scottish Enterprise have agreed to lead a Rethinking   Construction   initiative, in consultation with Communities Scotland and other stakeholders, using their established clusters approach. Central to this initiative is the creation of a Core Industry Group supported by a wider Rethinking   Construction   Panel.

  The Executive has provided £39,500 to fund a secondee for 12 months until the end of September 2002 as part of a knowledge management project called Pulling Together Scotland. As a result, a website has been established to provide information on Rethinking Construction best practice activities in Scotland, assisting the industry and its stakeholders to share information and work in a more joined-up manner.

Construction Industry

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will support the establishment of a Rethinking Construction Centre in line with the actions of other devolved governments in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive supports the principles of Rethinking Construction  as a means of delivering best practice and improvements in the construction industry. Scottish Enterprise have agreed to lead a Rethinking Construction   initiative, in consultation with Communities Scotland and other stakeholders, using their established clusters approach. Central to this initiative will be the creation of a Core Industry Group supported by a wider Rethinking Construction   Panel.

  My officials have kept in touch with developments in the rest of the UK, including the recent establishment of Rethinking Construction Centres. Should the Core Industry Group take the view that a Centre is an effective approach to progressing Rethinking Construction in Scotland, the Executive would consider the options.

Construction Industry

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing to Construction Best Practice Clubs.

Iain Gray: The Construction Best Practice Programme is a key part of Rethinking Construction  and works to find the most efficient ways of distributing the innovations and best practice captured by the Demonstration Projects Programme and Best Practice Clubs.

  The Scottish Executive supports the principles of Rethinking Construction as a means of delivering best practice and improvements in the construction industry. Scottish Enterprise has agreed to lead a Rethinking Construction initiative. In addition, the Executive supports and promotes best practice through the funding of Pulling Together Scotland.

Construction Industry

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to embed the principles of the Rethinking Construction Initiative in housing investment in the socially rented sector, the schools PPP programme and the planning and building standards framework.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive supports the principles of Rethinking Construction  as a means of delivering best practice and improvements in the construction industry and seeks, where possible, to embed Rethinking Construction principles into policy and implementation.

  Communities Scotland is introducing new policies and procedures for Registered Social Landlords in order to embed the principles of Rethinking Construction. The object is to secure an improved and cost-effective service from the construction industry for the benefit of tenants.

  The Public Private Partnership (PPP) process encourages innovation through consortium working to secure effective delivery of projects. The councils participating in the schools PPP programme will be given training and guidance specific to PPP. However, it is a matter for PPP service contractors to decide whether to apply the principles of Rethinking Construction to building procurement within individual school building programmes.

  We have embarked on a wide-ranging modernisation of the planning system. A number of the initiatives, in particular the recently announced reforms of development planning and the Executive’s commitment to higher design standards, support the aims of Rethinking Construction.

  The modernising of the building control system, which will follow from the proposed Building Bill, will respond to several aspects of the Rethinking Construction initiative, including leadership, focus on the customer, and an integrated team to increase productivity and predictability.

Construction Industry

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the potential savings in public procurement projects are that can be achieved by applying the key improvement targets, identified by Sir John Egan, which form the core of the Rethinking Construction Initiative.

Iain Gray: The potential savings identified by Sir John Egan in the Rethinking Construction report are a 20% reduction in accidents and defects, and a 10% reduction in capital costs and construction time. The report also highlights a potential 10% increase in productivity, turnover and profits for contractors.

  The Scottish Executive supports the principles of Rethinking Construction as a means of delivering best practice and improvements in the construction industry. Scottish Enterprise will lead a Rethinking Construction initiative in consultation with Communities Scotland and other stakeholders, using their established clusters approach. Central to this initiative is the creation of a Core Industry Group supported by a wider Rethinking Construction Panel.

Courts

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those court dues exigible in the Court of Session from 1987 to date in monetary terms and showing any percentage and Retail Price Index increases from year to year for (a) lodgment of a summons/petition, (b) a jury precept (c) lodging records, (d) a reclaiming motion, (e) fixing a proof, (g) a proof/debate hearing (each 30 minutes), (h) a summar roll hearing (30 minutes), (i) a jury trial (30 minutes), (j) a motion roll or other Outer House hearing, (k) out of hours hearings, (l) lodging an account of expenses, (m) an Inner House hearing, (n) a single bill, and (o) enrolment of a motion.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 22511).

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what effect the introduction of the European Convention on Human Rights has had on the way cases of domestic abuse are dealt with by all organisations who have contact with victims of domestic abuse.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive takes a positive and proactive approach to human rights. Public bodies in Scotland also have a duty to comply with their obligations under the Human Rights Act. Whilst the primary responsibility remains with public bodies themselves, we are taking steps to support them in understanding and implementing those duties.

  We have already provided general guidance to Scottish public bodies. We intend to issue additional guidance during the course of the next year and are also seeking to re-establish and further develop the human rights forum for public bodies which was previously run by COSLA.

  Information on the specific issue raised is not held centrally.

Environment

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve wetland conservation.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive will continue to improve wetland conservation, including the protection of Scotland’s network of nationally and internationally important sites. There are some 1,447 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Scotland, many of which offer protection to areas of wetland. Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation designated under the EU Wild Birds and Habitats Directives and Ramsar sites listed under the International Convention on Wetlands contribute to the fulfilment of the United Kingdom’s international obligations. On many of these sites, Scottish Natural Heritage provides support to owners and occupiers for continued protection and enhancement through its "Natural Care" programme, management agreements and various associated initiatives.

Europe

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any ministers attended the recent European summit in Seville.

Mr Jim Wallace: No.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been in each of the last five years under each of sections 47, 48(2), 49, 49A and 50(4) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, broken down by sheriff court district.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following tables. When interpreting individual figures at this level of detail it should be borne in mind that their accuracy is subject to the limitations inherent in any large scale statistical database. Information for 2001 is not expected to be available until around November 2002.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under section 47 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995

  
  
1996  1997 
 1998 
1999  2000 
   All Courts1
 227 
901  1,051 
 1,065 
1,137   
Sheriff Courts:  
 
   
Aberdeen  8 
14  20 
 26 
26Airdrie 
 9 
19  20 
 16 
22Alloa 
 3 
3   
-   - 
2Arbroath 
 5 
11  13 
 8 
10Ayr 
 8 
26  20 
 16 
17Banff 
  - 
 -  1 
  - 
 -Campbeltown 
  - 
4  2 
 2 
1Cupar 
 3 
5  3 
 5 
6Dingwall 
  - 
1  1 
 2 
 -Dornoch 
  - 
1  1 
 1 
 -Dumbarton 
 3 
18  22 
 16 
39Dumfries 
 3 
11  12 
 13 
15Dundee 
 5 
41  37 
 51 
40Dunfermline 
 4 
10  5 
 6 
3Dunoon 
 3 
3  6 
 2 
2Duns 
  - 
2  1 
  - 
 -Edinburgh 
 12 
81  80 
 67 
64Elgin 
 6 
8  13 
 9 
4Falkirk 
 6 
9  22 
 15 
20Forfar 
 1 
5  8 
 8 
9Fort 
William   - 
 -   
-  4 
9Glasgow 
 44 
280  360 
 434 
489Greenock 
 8 
17  21 
 35 
27Haddington 
 1 
7  8 
 8 
2Hamilton 
 13 
83  101 
 89 
118Inverness 
 2 
6  9 
 3 
5Jedburgh 
 - 
2  2 
 1 
4Kilmarnock 
 19 
44  49 
 46 
53Kirkcaldy 
 7 
16  10 
 11 
13Kirkcudbright 
 1 
2  4 
 4 
1Kirkwall 
  - 
 -  4 
  - 
 -Lanark 
 6 
11  10 
 16 
7Lerwick 
  - 
1  1 
  - 
1Linlithgow 
 5 
20  18 
 8 
20Lochmaddy 
  - 
 -  1 
  - 
 -Oban 
 1 
5  2 
  - 
1Paisley 
 19 
49  73 
 63 
45Peebles 
  - 
 -   
-   - 
1Perth 
 2 
21  21 
 10 
20Peterhead 
 4 
7  9 
 3 
5Portree 
  - 
 -  1 
  - 
1Rothesay 
  - 
1  1 
  - 
 -Selkirk 
 4 
 -  6 
 4 
1Stirling 
 4 
11  9 
 9 
8Stonehaven 
 1 
11  5 
 5 
1Stornoway 
  - 
2   
-  2 
 -Stranraer 
 1 
5  9 
 10 
4Tain 
  - 
1   
-  3 
3Wick 
 1 
1  2 
  - 
1Stipendiary 
Magistrates Court  1 
 5 
10  10 
 5  
 District Courts: 
  Aberdeen City 
2  5 
 3 
1   
-Aberdeenshire 
1  1 
 1 
2   
-Clackmannanshire 
  - 
1   
-  1 
 -Dumfries 
and Galloway   - 
 1 
2  1 
  -  
 Dundee City 
 -   
-  4 
3   
-East Renfrewshire 
  - 
 -   
-   - 
1Falkirk 
  - 
4  1 
  - 
 -Fife 
  - 
 -  1 
 2 
1Glasgow 
City   - 
 -  2 
 1 
 -Highland 
  - 
 -   
-  2 
 -North 
Lanarkshire   - 
 -  1 
 5 
4Perth 
and Kinross   - 
3   
-   - 
 -Renfrewshire 
  - 
 -  1 
  - 
 -Scottish 
Borders   - 
3   
-  2 
2Stirling 
  - 
 -  1 
 2 
1West 
Dunbartonshire   
-   - 
 -  1 
 2  
 West Lothian 
1  3 
  - 
 -   
-  

  Notes:

  1. Includes High Court cases.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under section 48(2) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995

  
  
1996  1997 
 1998 
1999  2000 
   All Courts 
-  1 
 - 
1  1 
 

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under section 49 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995


 1996 
1997  1998 
 1999 
2000   
All Courts1  317 
 855 
963  1,003 
 1,101 


  Sheriff Courts:

  
  Aberdeen 
5  17 
 25 
20  19 
   Airdrie 
6  12 
 13 
14  22 
   Alloa 
 -   
-  3 
 -  1 
   Arbroath 
1  7 
 9 
2  5 
   Ayr 
5  19 
 16 
18  27 
   Banff 
1   
-   - 
 -  1 
   Cupar 
 -  4 
  - 
1  1 
   Dingwall 
 -  3 
 1 
 -  1 
   Dornoch 
 -   
-   - 
1   
-Dumbarton 
8  25 
 37 
37  32 
   Dumfries 
3  13 
 5 
10  10 
   Dundee 
6  18 
 31 
36  33 
   Dunfermline 
3  9 
 6 
9  8 
   Dunoon 
3   
-  2 
2  3 
   Duns 
 -  1 
  - 
1  1 
   Edinburgh 
21  84 
 117 
95  86 
   Elgin 
4  3 
 5 
5  5 
   Falkirk 
10  16 
 13 
16  18 
   Forfar 
1  1 
  - 
2  5 
   Fort William 
 -  2 
 2 
1  1 
   Glasgow 
107  315 
 318 
395  433 
   Greenock 
21  21 
 39 
37  52 
   Haddington 
1  5 
 9 
6  1 
   Hamilton 
18  39 
 63 
87  119 
   Inverness 
10  7 
 10 
4  1 
   Jedburgh 
2  1 
 2 
3  2 
   Kilmarnock 
27  58 
 63 
58  65 
   Kirkcaldy 
8  3 
 5 
6  8 
   Kirkcudbright 
 -  3 
  - 
 -  5 
 

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under section 49 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995 (continued)

  
  
1996 
1997  1998 
 1999 
 2000 
  Sheriff courts: 
   Kirkwall 
 -   
-   - 
4   
-Lanark 
2  6 
 7 
11  9 
   Lerwick 
 -   
-  1 
1  1 
   Linlithgow 
4  16 
 15 
9  14 
   Oban 
 -  1 
 2 
4  3 
   Paisley 
29  83 
 92 
67  71 
   Peebles 
 -   
-  1 
 -   
-Perth 
2  13 
 6 
2  8 
   Peterhead 
2  11 
 10 
1  1 
   Portree 
2   
-   - 
 -   
-Rothesay 
1   
-  1 
 -  1 
   Selkirk 
 -  1 
 8 
5  4 
   Stirling 
 -  12 
 4 
5  4 
   Stonehaven 
 -  1 
  - 
 -   
-Stornoway 
 -  2 
 3 
1  1 
   Stranraer 
2  5 
 5 
6   
-Tain 
1  5 
  - 
4  3 
   Wick 
 -  2 
 1 
1  2 
   Stipendiary Magistrates 
Court  1 
2  1 
6  4   
District courts:   
Aberdeen City   
-  1 
3   
-   - 
  Aberdeenshire 
 -   
-  1 
2  1 
   Argyll and Bute 
 -   
-  1 
1   
-Clackmannanshire 
  - 
 -   
-  1 
 -Dumfries 
and Galloway   
-  1 
 -   
-   - 
  Edinburgh, City of 
 -  1 
  - 
 -   
-Fife 
 -   
-  3 
2  1 
   Highland 
 -  1 
 1 
 -  1 
   North Lanarkshire 
 -   
-  1 
2  2 
   Perth & Kinross 
  - 
1   
-   - 
 -Scottish 
Borders   
-  1 
 -  1 
 2 
  Stirling 
 -  1 
  - 
 -   
-West Dunbartonshire 
  - 
 -  1 
  - 
3West 
Lothian   
-  1 
 -   
-   - 


  Notes:

  1. Includes High Court cases.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under section 49A of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995

  
  
1996  1997 
 1998 
1999  2000 
   All Courts 
-  - 
 - 
2  - 
 

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under section 50(4) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995

  
  
1996  1997 
 1998 
1999  2000 
   All Courts 
-  - 
 - 
-  1

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) interdicts and (b) non-harassment orders have been granted in each of the last five years under section 8 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, broken down by sheriff court district.

Mr Jim Wallace: Scotland totals for the number of applications lodged and granted under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 are given in table 3.12 of the annual publication Civil Judicial Statistics, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 16249, 16386 and 19702). A breakdown of these figures by sheriff court district is not readily available.

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been in each of the last five years under section 9 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, broken down by sheriff court district.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table. When interpreting individual figures at this level of detail it should be borne in mind that their accuracy is subject to the limitations inherent in any large scale statistical database. Information for 2001 is not expected to be available until around November 2002.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was under Section 9 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997

  
  
1997  1998 
 1999 
2000   
All Courts  - 
 1 
3  12 
   Dumbarton 
 -   
-   - 
1Dunfermline 
  - 
 -   
-  3  
 Edinburgh 
 -   
-   - 
2Glasgow 
  - 
1  3 
 4  
 Kirkcaldy 
 -   
-   - 
1Linlithgow 
  - 
 -   
-  1

Justice

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been in each of the last five years under section 50A of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, broken down by sheriff court district.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the following table. When interpreting individual figures at this level of detail it should be borne in mind that their accuracy is subject to the limitations inherent in any large scale statistical database. Information for 2001 is not expected to be available until around November 2002.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main charge was under Section 50(A) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) Act 1995

  
  
1996 
1997 
1998 
1999 
2000   
All Courts   
-   - 
1  56 
 170 
  Sheriff Courts: 
 
 
   Aberdeen 
 -   
-   - 
 -  2 
   Airdrie 
 -   
-   - 
2  3 
   Arbroath 
 -   
-   - 
 -  3 
   Ayr 
 -   
-   - 
2  6 
   Banff 
 -   
-   - 
2   
-Dumfries 
 -   
-   - 
 -  1 
   Dundee 
 -   
-   - 
6  25 
   Dunfermline 
 -   
-  1 
4  14 
   Edinburgh 
 -   
-   - 
9  21 
   Falkirk 
 -   
-   - 
 -  6 
   Fort William 
 -   
-   - 
 -  1 
   Glasgow 
 -   
-   - 
13  41 
   Greenock 
 -   
-   - 
 -  2 
   Haddington 
 -   
-   - 
 -  1 
   Hamilton 
 -   
-   - 
7  16 
   Jedburgh 
 -   
-   - 
 -  1 
   Kilmarnock 
 -   
-   - 
5  12 
   Kirkcaldy 
 -   
-   - 
 -  3 
   Kirkcudbright 
  - 
 -   
-   - 
1   
Lanark   
-   - 
 -  2 
 1  
 Linlithgow 
 -   
-   - 
 -  2 
   Oban 
 -   
-   - 
1   
-Paisley 
  - 
 -   
-  1 
4   
Perth   
-   - 
 -  1 
  -  
 Stirling 
 -   
-   - 
1  3 
   Stranraer 
  - 
 -   
-   - 
1

Justice

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice is given to procurators fiscal with regard to the prosecution of those accused of possession of cannabis and whether any new advice on this matter will be given in the light of the reclassification of cannabis.

Colin Boyd QC: The specific advice given to procurators fiscal with regard to the prosecution of such persons is confidential. The disclosure of such detailed guidance would be of assistance to those contemplating or involved in criminal actions.

  Cases involving the possession of cannabis will continue to be reported to procurators fiscal by the police. Procurators fiscal are not obliged to prosecute such persons and a variety of disposals are available.

  The relevant guidance has not been changed but will be kept under continuous review.

Justice

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the release on bail of prisoners convicted of serious crimes including violence while their appeals against conviction are pending.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive has no power to review the grant of bail to convicted persons pending the determination of their appeal and it would be inappropriate to seek such powers. Only the High Court has the power to grant bail in these circumstances and to recall any such grant of bail.

  The High Court may grant bail on the application of a convicted person if it thinks fit. However, it cannot grant a convicted person bail unless, in the absence of written grounds of appeal, the application for bail states reasons why bail should be granted and sets out proposed grounds of appeal, and the High Court considers that there are exceptional circumstances to justify granting bail.

  We have no plans at present to review the High Court’s powers in this respect.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to making provision to bring persons acquitted of serious criminal charges before a second trial where compelling new evidence has become available after such an acquittal.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have no immediate plans to consider making such provision in Scotland.

  We have, however, noted the proposal in the UK Government’s recently published White Paper, Justice for All, to reform the rule of double jeopardy so that an acquitted defendant can be tried again for the same offence. We shall monitor developments relating to this particular proposal.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to providing increased discretionary powers for sheriffs and judges to admit evidence of previous convictions of accused persons in solemn and summary criminal cases.

Mr Jim Wallace: We have no immediate plans to consider providing such powers generally to sheriffs and judges. The Sexual Offences (Procedures & Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002 will, however, create a presumption, in sexual offences cases, in favour of disclosure of an accused’s previous conviction for such offences, in the event that the accused makes a successful application to lead evidence about the sexual history or character of the complainer.

  We have noted the proposal in the UK Government’s recently published White Paper Justice for All to allow judges to decide whether previous convictions are sufficiently relevant to the case, bearing in mind the prejudicial effect, to be heard by the jury and for the jury to decide what weight should be given to that information in all the circumstances of the case. We shall follow developments relating to this particular proposal with interest.

Justice

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on codifying the law and practice relating to the admissibility of evidence in (a) criminal cases and (b) civil cases.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are currently no plans to codify the law or practice relating to the admissibility of evidence.

National Parks

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual budget will be for the first three years of operation of (a) the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and (b) the Cairngorms National Park.

Allan Wilson: The funding allocation for the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park for the period 2002-03 is £4.8 million. The level of funding to be allocated in future years for National Parks in Scotland will be determined by the Executive as part of its future budgets review. The period covered in the forthcoming review runs from 2003-04 until 2005-06.

National Parks

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority will have responsibility over car parks, public toilets, roadside viewing points and lay-bys and signage within the park boundaries.

Allan Wilson: Discussions are presently taking place between the National Park Authority and the relevant local authorities to establish the allocation of responsibilities for these issues.

Police

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any additional funding has been given to Fife Constabulary to meet any additional expense of providing security for His Royal Highness Prince William at the University of St Andrews and, if so, how much.

Mr Jim Wallace: It is our policy not to comment on, or otherwise disclose details of, protection measures that are in place for royalty and other public figures, as to do so could compromise their security.

Police

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27087 by Mr Jim Wallace on 17 July 2002, whether it will list by title each official document relating to guidelines and legislation it has sent to each police force in the last three years, excluding e-mails, letters and circulars.

Mr Jim Wallace: Official documents sent to forces, relating to guidelines and legislation, would normally be covered by a letter or circular. As stated in the reply to the earlier question, there is no central monitoring of exchanges between the Executive and police forces and to put such a process in place would be unduly bureaucratic and costly.

  Performance measures are specified in the published contract between SPS and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited. Performance against these measures is recorded on a daily basis. The results were published in the answer given to question S1W-25569.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-25064 and S1W-25065 by Mr Jim Wallace on 29 April 2002, why the buildings of HM Prison Penninghame were re-advertised on 10 June 2000 when the deadline for offers intimated to those who had expressed interest was 3 May 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Mr Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  As none of the offers received by 3 May 2000 were considered acceptable, the property was re-advertised.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-23459 by Mr Jim Wallace on 11 March 2002, whether any offer for the buildings of HM Prison Penninghame made before 3 May 2000 equalled or exceeded the value of £275,000.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes.

Prison Service

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners in Scottish Prison Service institutions have learning difficulties such as dyslexia.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  In 2001-02, 4,500 prisoners were screened for reading and numeracy skills. About a third lacked functional literacy and a half numeracy. There are various reasons for this, the main one being a lack of sustained initial schooling. We organise learning for prisoners through tailored individual learning plans. We give priority to those with the poorest basic skills and, in conjunction with Dyslexia in Scotland and our college learning providers, aim to provide specific learning support to meet these needs.

Prison Service

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service intends to follow the good practice guidelines on working with perpetrators of violence against women developed by RESPECT in April 2001 when developing custodial programmes for men convicted of violence against their partners.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  We are currently investigating the acquisition of programmes for men convicted of violence. Our wish to follow good practice as set out in the "What Works" literature are similar to the guidelines developed by RESPECT, so far as these are relevant to the custodial setting. We will also take advice from the Scottish Executive Partnership Group on the implementation of domestic abuse programmes in order to liaise with the complementary work required in the community in regard of Women’s Services and Child Protection issues.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26897 by Mr Jim Wallace on 3 July 2002, whether it will give a breakdown of each prison’s performance in relation to each of the targets referred to.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested can be found in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 23085).

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which targets in the report Standards of Health Care of Prisoners were not met by health care providers in each of the last three years, broken down by provider and prison, where such data is available.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is not available.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements the Scottish Prison Service has made for providing Halal, Kosher or other religiously prescribed foods for prisoners.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has made for responding to requests made on ethical or moral grounds from prisoners held in prisons managed by the SPS or the privately operated prison for vegetarian, vegan or other special diets.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Special diets are made available from within all prison kitchens where necessary with the exception of the Orthodox Jewish diet, which requires separate kitchens for dairy and meat products where suitable meals are purchased externally.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners were held in all prisons, broken down by religious affiliation, on the most recent date since 1 April 2001 for which figures are available.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Baptist  2 
  Buddhist 
4Christian 
 90   
Church of England  66 
  Church of Scotland 
2,831Episcopalian 
 5   
Hindu  4  
 Jehovah Witness 
7Muslim 
44None 
1,464Other 
 57   
Roman Catholic  1,797 
  Sikh 
2Null 
93Total 
6,466

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the arrangements made by the Scottish Prison Service for feeding prisoners differ in any respect between those on remand and those convicted.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Arrangements for providing meals vary among prisons and parts of prisons according to the physical characteristics of the establishments and operational requirements but these variations do not normally relate to whether or not prisoners are on remand. The main difference for remands is in those prisons which operate pre-selected menus which are not generally suitable for remands who may be away to court or released by the time the pre-selected meals are served, leading to high food wastage.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide substantive answers to questions S1W-24637, S1W-24733 and S1W-25240 relating to prisons for which holding replies were provided on 25 April, 1 May and 3 May 2002 respectively.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  S1W-24733 and 25240 were answered on 22 July 2002. S1W-24637 was answered on 6 August 2002.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Netherlands government made any payment to it when the buildings comprising HM Prison Zeist were returned.

Mr Andy Kerr: No. At the time of the return of Kamp Van Zeist to the Dutch Government in April this year, the Scottish Executive paid the Dutch Government £1 million dilapidation costs – this represents half of the total decommissioning costs, with the other 50% being met by the Dutch Government. It should be noted that the site was provided totally free of charge by the Dutch Government for the entire duration of the Scottish occupation of Kamp Van Zeist - no rent or rates were levied. We are very grateful to the Dutch Government for their co-operation and the help and assistance they provided during this time.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any fixtures, fittings and equipment were removed from the buildings comprising HM Prison Zeist for reuse by the Scottish Prison Service prior to their return to the Netherlands government.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Yes.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service design standards for cellblocks were taken into account in costing the buildings for new private prisons in the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review, detailing the reasons behind its position on the matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: No. The Scottish Prison Service does not have such design standards nor would these be relevant to a private build private operate model.

  As stated in section 3.1 of the Financial Review of Scottish Prison Service Estates Review, the base case assumption for the Private Build Private Operate model was that the service specification for any new prisons would be based upon HMP Kilmarnock.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost was of the contract management section of the Finance and Business Services Directorate in the Scottish Prison Service in each of the last three financial years.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The total cost of the section was not separately calculated but is estimated to have been less than £100,000 a year in the years in question.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what occasions performance reviews were carried out for the HM Prison Kilmarnock contract and what the results were of any such reviews.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Performance measures are specified in the published contract between SPS and Kilmarnock Prison Services Limited. Performance against these measures is recorded on a daily basis. The results were published in the answer given to question S1W-25569.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what objectives and risks were identified and what control strategy was determined for each significant risk at the risk management workshop mentioned at (iv) on page 47 of the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report and Accounts 2001-02 .

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The Risk Management Workshop referred to in the SPS Annual Report and Accounts (2001-02) is part of our on-going work to improve governance, risk management and internal controls within the SPS.

  The workshop paved the way for the development of a confidential Risk Register and response plan to help the SPS as a law enforcement agency to better identify key security, operational, corporate and business continuity risks in order to manage them more effectively.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints by prisoners there were in 2001-02, broken down by reason for the complaint and prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  This information is not available in the form requested. The current arrangements for collecting data on prisoners’ complaints is outlined at page 21 of the Scottish Prison Service Annual Report & Accounts for 2001-02, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 22587).

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21189 by Mr Jim Wallace on 14 January 2002, what the cost of social work services has been in (a) HM Prison Edinburgh, (b) HM Young Offenders Institution Glenochil, (c) HM Young Offenders Institution Dumfries and (d) HM Young Offenders Institution Polmont in 2001-02 and 2002-03 to the present date.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

   
  £000 
   (a) 2001–02 
268(b) 2001–02 
 247   
(c) 2001–02  30 
  (d) 2001–02 
180  

  Note: Accurate figures for the current year are not yet available.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) total staff complement, (b) current number of staff in post, and (c) average number of staff required for prisoner escorts has been for each prison for each of the last three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The readily available information is as follows:

  
  SPS Establishment 
1 April1999-2000 
1 April2000-01 
1 April2001-02   
(a)  (b) 
 (a) 
(b)  (a) 
 (b)   
Aberdeen  163 
165  164 
 159 
164  162 
   Barlinnie 
604  582 
 606 
584  589 
 603   
Castle Huntly  73 
83  72 
 70 
69  70 
   Cornton Vale 
247  246 
 247 
239  256 
 278   
Dumfries  160 
164  160 
 158 
154  155 
   Edinburgh 
478  462 
 478 
450  468 
 473   
Glenochil  474 
466  474 
 470 
474  467 
   Greenock 
184  183 
 186 
186  189 
 198   
Inverness  109 
110  110 
 107 
112  113 
   Low Moss 
165  156 
 168 
172  173 
 183   
Noranside  70 
69  72 
 70 
64  63 
   Perth 
452  427 
 452 
434  431 
 432   
Peterhead  252 
252  250 
 228 
241  213 
   Polmont 
350  353 
 351 
347  345 
 354   
Shotts  460 
436  449 
 442 
436  427 
   Total 
4,241  4,154 
 4,239 
4,116  4,165 
 4,191  

  Accurate figures for (C) are not available.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in regard to the new houseblock for HM Young Offenders Institute Polmont, (a) how many prisoner places it will have, (b) what additional facilities are to be included, (c) what the expected cost is, (d) what the expected completion date is and (e) whether any delay in completion is expected.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  (a) 215

  (b) Prisoner programme rooms, health care facilities, prison officer stations, showers, serveries, and laundry facilities.

  (c) £17 million.

  (d) Spring 2003.

  (e) No.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the random mandatory drug testing results were for prisons broken down by (a) type of drug including cannabis, benzodiazepines, opiates, methadone, LSD, amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine and temgesic, (b) headline and underlying figures, (c) month and (d) prison for 2000-01 and 2001-02.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Readily available information on MDT test results are published annually in the Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland annual bulletin. The figures for 2000-01 are at table 110 in the 2001 report (Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland 2001, Information and Statistics Division, 2002).

  The figures for 2001-02 will be published in the next annual bulletin.

The following are the figures as at 22 July 2002.

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many responses it has received from individual respondents to its consultation on the Scottish Prison Service Estates Review .

Mr Jim Wallace: A total of 129 responses to the consultation were received, of which 92 were from individuals.

Rape

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people convicted for rape in each of the last five years had previous convictions.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information available is shown in the following table.

  
  Persons With a Charge Proved Where 
Main Crime Was Rape, 1996 to 2000   
Year  Total number 
 Number with 1 or 
more previous convictions1 
% with 1 or more previous convictions   
1996  33 
22  67 
   1997 
29  16 
 48  
 1998 
37  25 
 76  
 1999 
27  14 
 42  
 2000 
27  18 
 55  

  Notes:

  1. Convictions in Scottish Courts since 1989 for all crimes within groups 1-5 of the Scottish Executive Justice Department's classification of crimes and offences and the common law offences of simple assault and breach of the peace.

Scottish Executive Staff

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many canteens, restaurants or other similar facilities on its and its agencies’ premises regularly provide hot prepared meals for staff.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its and its agencies’ canteens, restaurants or similar facilities can provide Halal, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan or other special diet meals when given notice of any such requirement.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table sets out the number of staff restaurants/canteens regularly providing hot food for staff. All of these facilities are able to provide Halal, Kosher, vegetarian, vegan or other special diet meals, when given notice of such requirement.

  
  Organisation 
Facilities providing hot food 
Able to provide Halal etc meals when notice is given 
  Scottish Executive 
4  4 
  Historic Scotland 
1  1 
  Scottish Agricultural Science Agency 
1  1 
  Scottish Prison Service 
6  6 
  Scottish Courts Service 
6  6 
  Registers of Scotland Executive Agency 
2  2 
  Students Awards Agency 
1  1

Sexual Offences

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will involve the Rape Crisis Network or other organisations involved in working with victims of sexual assault in providing information, guidance and training to prosecutors and the judiciary.

Mr Jim Wallace: Judicial education is a matter for the independent Judicial Studies Committee who propose to run courses and provide material on sexual crimes and procedure to coincide with the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act. I have drawn the terms of your question to the attention of the Director of Judicial Studies. From time to time visiting speakers make contributions to training sessions but it is for the committee to decide when this should happen. The Rape Crisis Network (RCN) and Scottish Women's Aid (SWA) together with other victims organisations are involved in on-going Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service training. The RCN and SWA, in particular, give training and valuable insight into numerous aspects of sexual assaults and domestic abuse. Their input has also informed the guidance in relation to domestic abuse and dealing with victims of sexual offences, including rape, that is circulated and available to all prosecutors.

Sexual Offences

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to the police regarding the investigation of alleged sexual assaults.

Mr Jim Wallace: Departmental guidance has been issued to Chief Constables on the Investigation of Complaints of Sexual Assault and covers related matters such as medical examinations, the importance of using experienced female interviewing officers, and developing in-force training, with the purpose of producing an atmosphere of care and concern. The importance and sensitivity of violence against woman has long been recognised by the police and the Scottish Executive but it is for individual Chief Constables to make local arrangements for dealing with victims. Chief Constables are expected to do their utmost to ensure that victims of rape and sexual assault are treated with tact and sympathy. Local procedures, which have been put in place by Chief Constables, will have regard to this guidance and other relevant guidance and reports, for example on domestic violence and vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the original answer to question S1W-24724 by Ms Margaret Curran on 20 May 2002, why the information given in that answer was incorrect.

Hugh Henry: The information given was incorrect as it was drawn from a dedicated database which was subsequently discovered to contain a number of administrative errors. The errors were identified by finance staff in Communities Scotland through routine checks as part of an overall review of financial procedures and practices in relation to the Social Inclusion Partnership Programme. The errors were in relation to the recording and interpretation of data.

Voluntary Sector

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it intends to take forward consideration of the recommendations arising from HM Treasury’s cross-cutting review of the voluntary sector due to report at the end of July 2002.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is currently considering the recommendations arising from HM Treasury’s cross-cutting review of the voluntary sector and how this will impact on the work being undertaken by the Executive.

Voluntary Sector

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to establish a direct fund for voluntary sector organisations to help them overcome barriers to effective service delivery and modernise their infrastructure for the long term.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive does not currently have any plans to establish a new direct fund for voluntary sector organisations.

  However, the Executive is of course fully committed to assisting the voluntary sector. The Executive's direct support for the voluntary sector now stands at record levels and has increased year on year since 1998-99. We are also committed to modernising the funding framework for the voluntary sector and this is being considered as part of our on-going work on funding.

Voluntary Sector

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to refresh the Compact with the voluntary sector.

Ms Margaret Curran: We are currently in the process of developing an agenda to re-vitalise the Compact and its Good Practice Guides. A Compact Review Group was set up in November 2000, comprising Executive and voluntary sector officials to monitor implementation of the Compact and report to Scottish ministers. The last report on the Compact was published and debated in the Scottish Parliament on 26 September 2001. The review group has now been re-established to ensure the outcomes of the 2001 report are implemented. This group had its first meeting on 3 July 2002.